MISCHA LEVITZKI, OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH AND IGNAZ FRIEDMAN Original Works and Transcriptions for Solo Piano MISCHA LEVITZKI 1898–1941 1 Valse de Concert, Op. 1 4:15 2 Valse, Op. 2 1:35 3 Gavotte, Op. 3* 2:11 4 Arabesque valsante, Op. 6 3:06 5 The Enchanted Nymph 4:37 6 Valse Tzigane, Op. 7 2:14 7 Dance of the Doll, Op. 8* 2:23 OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH 1878–1936 8 Romance, Op. 1, No. 4* 3:40 Three Piano Pieces, Op. 2 12:37 9 No. 1 Fantaisie-Nocturne* 5:23 10 No. 2 Gavotte 4:16 11 No. 3 Feuillet d’Album* 2:58 2 IGNAZ FRIEDMAN 1882–1948 Transcriptions 12 César Franck Prelude, Fugue and Variation* 8:52 13 Giovanni Battista Grazioli Adagio* 3:53 14 Karl Stamitz Symphony in G major: Prestissimo* 3:19 15 François Couperin La Tendre Fanchon* 3:54 Original works Four Preludes, Op. 61* 5:50 16 No. 1 Pensieroso 1:31 17 No. 2 Vivo e molto leggiero 1:24 18 No. 3 Con abandono 1:26 19 No. 4 Molto appassionato ed animato 1:29 Etudes, Op. 63* 20 No. 1 Allegro, molto leggiero 2:33 21 No. 2 Vivo e con delicatezza 1:47 22 No. 4 Andante molto cantabile 1:59 23 No. 9 Allegro, con abandono 1:30 24 No. 10 Allegretto, sempre leggiero 1:46 25 No. 11 Allegro patetico 3:06 26 No. 16 Allegro appassionato 3:02 TT 78:26 *FIRST RECORDINGS Margarita Glebov, piano 3 LEVITZKI, GABRILOWITSCH AND FRIEDMAN: THREE COMPOSING VIRTUOSI by Maxwell Brown In former times the twin professions of pianist and composer, though largely distinct today, were more ofen than not combined in one person. Te composers featured in this album follow in a long line of pianist-composers, and are a part of what might be regarded as the last generation of concert pianists who, with few exceptions, composed at least a small number of piano pieces. Te piano, with its harmonic and contrapuntal capabilities and its dynamic and expressive range, was the instrument of choice for many of the greatest composers, from the time of Mozart onward. Such people as Mozart and Beethoven were not only major creative fgures: they were also among the greatest piano virtuosos of their time, and were followed by the compositional and pianistic innovations of Romantic composers such as Chopin and Liszt. Te virtuoso pianist, understanding idiomatically pianistic texture, tone- production, passage-work and pedalling, has vast resources for expressing ideas unique to the piano, and the most important piano composers employ markedly diferent confgurations in keeping with their unique approaches to piano technique. Before Liszt’s development of the piano recital, virtuoso pianists appeared in concert primarily as exponents of their own compositions. Whether in sonatas, variation-sets, fantasies, potpourris or improvisations on themes given by the audience, the performer’s skill at the instrument was primarily a vehicle for his own compositional ideas. Tose who heard Chopin, for instance, understood his touch, tonal shading, pedalling, phrasing and fexibility of rhythm to be emblematic of his melodic and harmonic gifs as a composer, and his pupils, along with others who heard him, could hardly imagine anyone playing the works of Chopin as Chopin himself did. 4 Te mid- to late nineteenth century saw the beginnings of the formation of a canonic piano repertoire which was increasingly featured in recitals, though many pianists (such as the American virtuoso Louis Moreau Gottschalk) continued to play recitals consisting mainly of their own works. In the 1880s Hans von Bülow’s Beethoven sonata-cycles and Anton Rubinstein’s historical concerts (which encompassed works from the entire range of the existing piano repertoire) may be considered landmarks in establishing a clear distinction between the roles of composer and pianist. Although Bülow and Rubinstein were both composers, their concert activities went a long way toward establishing the role of pianists as being primarily the interpreters of the works of other composers. Composition studies continued to be part of the training of most pianists leading into the twentieth century, but the serious demands associated with the mastery of an increasingly large and difcult repertoire of masterpieces relegated composition to a minor place in their careers. Te composers surveyed here – Mischa Levitzki, Ossip Gabrilowitsch and Ignaz Friedman – belong to what has ofen been called the ‘Golden Age’ of piano- playing – a period of time from roughly the last decades of the nineteenth century to the early decades of the twentieth. At this time there was before the public an unusually rich assortment of pianists known for their technical command, distinctive artistic personalities, crafsmanship and musical imagination. Many of the most important of these pianists enjoyed close personal associations with nineteenth-century musical giants such as Liszt, Brahms and Anton Rubinstein, and yet at the same time living long enough to make recordings – no small asset to later generations seeking insight into nineteenth-century performance practice, along with a glimpse into an all-but-vanished time when pianists improvised and composed. Among the many piano virtuosos of that time who composed extensively for their instrument were Sergei Rachmaninov, Josef Hofmann, Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Eugen d’Albert, Emil von Sauer, Ernst von Dohnányi, Percy Grainger, Vasily Sapelnikov, Ernest Schelling, Walter Gieseking and Artur Schnabel, along with many others who wrote at least a modest number of piano pieces. Most of these pianists (Schnabel being an exception) wrote in a decidedly Romantic idiom and rarely pressed their harmonic 5 innovations to the limits of then moderns such as Ravel or Debussy. Like the major piano-composers of the nineteenth century, these pianist-composers concentrated on miniatures, including a large representation of etudes, transcriptions and forms developed by Chopin such as nocturnes, waltzes and preludes. Mischa Levitzki was born in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, in 18981 while his parents (naturalised American citizens) were on a trip back to their native country. He studied with eminent teachers in a wide range of places: Aleksander Michałowski in Warsaw (1905–6), Zygmunt Stojowski at the Institute of Musical Art (later the Juilliard School) in New York (1907–11) and Ernst von Dohnányi in Berlin (1913–15). Levitzki had a relatively small repertoire, and his career was cut short by his untimely death from a heart attack in 1941, but his pianistic gifs and compelling musicality – consisting of beauty of tone and romantic depth among other qualities – distinguished him even in an era with no shortage of outstanding pianists. Commenting on his excursions into composition, Levitzki remarked: ‘I think one career is about all you can manage in a lifetime’2 – a point of view no doubt shared by most concert pianists since then. In addition to his dedication to his pianistic art, Levitzki made ample room for recreational activities such as swimming, tennis and dancing, along with composition. It seems that he did not take himself very seriously as a composer: ‘I compose a little, but just to amuse myself. I’m not a composer’.3 Tese statements may refect his self-efacing modesty, an attribute highlighted by another pianist-composer, the author Abram Chasins,4 or it may have been Levitzki’s way of defecting critical appraisal of his work as a composer when he was not seeking afrmation as such. Still, it is evident that he thought enough of his compositions to programme them regularly (the Waltz, Op. 2, and the Arabesque valsante, Op. 6, making 1 As Leo Ornstein had been in 1893, fve years earlier. Te violent modernism of many of Ornstein’s early works, written for himself to play, makes them another exception to the Romantic idiom characteristic of the composer-pianist of this period. Arsentyi Kharitonov has recorded two albums of Ornstein’s piano music on Toccata Classics tocc 0141 and 0167. 2 Henrietta Malkiel, ‘Levitzki Holds the Musical Mirror Up to America’, Musical America, 26 January 1924, p. 5. 3 Ibid. 4 Abram Chasins, Speaking of Pianists, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1957, p. 156. 6 frequent appearances), and his compositions fgure prominently in his recorded output. Perhaps even more signifcantly, his pieces were extremely popular with his audiences, sometimes being requested from the hall when they were not included in the printed programme, and his published works sold well among pianists. It is not difcult to understand why. Levitzki chose the Viennese waltz as the primary vehicle for his compositional ideas, and in a small handful of pieces he managed to evoke the requisite charm innate to the form while also exhibiting a very original voice in what at the time may have been considered an antiquated or even hackneyed form. Simple but attractive tunes combine with skilful juxtaposition of melancholy and cheerfulness in his waltzes, along with an infectious vitality. Perhaps a certain lack of seriousness in his approach to composition (along with his innate sense of rhythmic swing) contributed to making his music fresh and unpretentious. Levitzki composed a few songs and a cadenza to Beethoven’s Tird Piano Concerto, but the works included here encompass his complete published music for solo piano. Te Valse de Concert, Op. 1, in G sharp minor 1 was composed in November 1916 but was not published until 1924. Levitzki later related the circumstances surrounding its origin: when he was eighteen years old, he was travelling from New York to Boston to make his debut in that city and the main theme of the waltz ran continuously in his mind. Te recital was a success, compelling Levitzki to give several encores. At a loss to think of anything else to play, he sat down and ofered an improvisation on the waltz theme.